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Police: Markel suspect changed his story

One of two men charged in Florida State law professor Dan Markel’s slaying initially told investigators he’d never been to Tallahassee and knew nothing about the crime. He changed his story three days later.

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During that initial interview, court documents say, he denied any knowledge of the killing or that he’d traveled with Garcia.

Police returned to the prison in Coleman three days later. Rivera at first reiterated he had never been north of Orlando or Tampa. He was then handed a picture of him and Garcia at an ATM in the rented green Prius that police say followed Markel on his final day. The vehicle was seen fleeing Markel's Betton Hills home moments after a neighbor heard a gunshot.

Rivera acknowledged he was in the car with Garcia and changed his story, conceding the two rented the hybrid and drove to Tallahassee to visit FSU's campus.

“Investigators asked if Rivera was an FSU fan, and he stated that he indicated he was a Miami Hurricanes fan,” said the new information added to the probable cause statement for Garcia’s arrest. “When questioned further, Rivera would not confirm or deny if he was at the scene of the homicide.”

Five days later, investigators checked with Rivera’s employer at the time of the killing. They learned he was not at work from July 16 to July 18, 2014 — the day Markel was shot in the head in broad daylight after he pulled into his garage after taking his sons to preschool and working out at Premier gym.

A Leon County grand jury on Friday indicted both Rivera and Garcia with first-degree murder. Garcia has pleaded not guilty. A warrant for Rivera’s arrest has not yet been executed, but a judge has ordered he be brought to Leon County and housed at the jail, where Garcia is currently being held without bond, to face the murder charge.

Investigators say neither man knew Markel or had any previous interactions with him, but rather were enlisted to kill the prominent legal scholar as part of a murder-for-hire scheme.

The “motive for murder,” court documents detail, was the desire of the family of Markel’s ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, to see the couple’s two young sons move with their mother to south Florida.

Anatomy of a Hit

Markel and Adelson were engaged in a protracted and ugly post-divorce court fight over their parenting agreement. At the time of his killing, her brother Charlie Adelson was involved in a relationship with Katherine Magbanua, the mother of Garcia’s two children.